


zack's guide to being a good delivery boy

by rikubraveheart



Series: Slice of Clack Event [4]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Awkward Cloud Strife, Communication, Fluff and Humor, Healthy Relationships, M/M, Post-Canon, Slice of Clack, SoCPrint, Zack Fair & Cloud Strife Friendship, but he tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25490293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikubraveheart/pseuds/rikubraveheart
Summary: Slice of Clack, Week 4: Journey.“Let’s see…” says Zack, taking a paper out of one of the drawers. “A lot of them are about you being extremely rude, and there’s this one that says you were armed when you delivered their package? And they felt threatened.”“Hey, I’m just the delivery boy!” exclaims Cloud, putting his arms up in a sign of surrender, the tone of his voice showing a hint of teasing.Zack looks at him exasperatedly. “Delivery boys don’t wear two-meter swords on their backs!”Co-managing a delivery service with your boyfriend is hard, especially when said boyfriend is as awkward as they come when he has to interact with other human beings.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Series: Slice of Clack Event [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797526
Comments: 7
Kudos: 75
Collections: Slice of Clack: July 2020





	zack's guide to being a good delivery boy

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt chosen for this: Strife's Fair delivery service.
> 
> I kind of wanted to show a different side to their relationship? And how they contrast each other.
> 
> Woooo just one week left! I've had a blast with this event.
> 
> My twitter: [@rikubraveheart](https://twitter.com/rikubraveheart)

When he and Cloud started their delivery service, he knew they were gonna help lots of people with it.

The roads after Meteor happened and Shinra fell have been a lot more dangerous to travel, and so they take care that any packages or letters can reach their destination without any trouble. Of course, being only three people (him, Cloud and Tifa plus the occasional help from their other friends) they can only do so much, but Zack hopes their little business can grow in the future.

However, that’s not the matter at hand. The problem at that moment is that there’s been noticeably more complaints and fewer tips when Cloud is the one delivering the packages.

Now, Zack loves his boyfriend to pieces. They’ve been through the unimaginable together, and there’s absolutely nothing that he wouldn’t do for him. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of his flaws. Like, for example, his non-existent social skills.

It’s never been a problem for him. Even when they had just met, Zack could read Cloud just fine. He likes to take it as a sign that they were meant to be together, considering even Tifa, who had known Cloud since they were children, still couldn’t read Cloud completely well. 

But, just because Zack can read Cloud, doesn’t mean their clients can.

So he decides to have a talk with Cloud about it. 

“Babe, I need to talk to you about something,” he tells him, trying to sound as casual as possible. He doesn’t want to make Cloud anxious. 

“Sure,” he replies, and they make their way towards the little office they jokingly call Strife’s Fair Delivery Service Headquarters. It’s a tiny room, there’s not much space for an office in the building, but it’s a cosy place where Cloud and Zack have spent countless hours together. 

“So, there’s been some… complaints,” he says. Cloud raises an eyebrow at this. 

“What kind of complaints?” he asks, wary.

“Let’s see…” says Zack, taking a paper out of one of the drawers. “A lot of them are about you being extremely rude, and there’s this one that says you were armed when you delivered their package? And they felt threatened.”

“Hey, I’m just the delivery boy!” exclaims Cloud, putting his arms up in a sign of surrender, the tone of his voice showing a hint of teasing. 

Zack looks at him exasperatedly. “Delivery boys don’t wear two-meter  _ swords _ on their  _ backs _ !” He exclaims, amused.

He sees Cloud fidget, probably embarrassed but not wanting to admit it, so he softens his gaze and lowers his voice. “I get the need to be on your guard at all times. Believe me, I  _ do. _ But it’s time you start letting go, Cloud. No one is going to attack you while you’re making deliveries. I’m not asking you to suddenly feel comfortable everywhere you go, but could you try to leave your weapons with Fenrir when you’re making the deliveries?”

He then puts on his best puppy eyes. Somehow, they always seemed to work on Cloud, even though he should be more than used to them by now.

“...Okay,” he sighs. “I’ll try.”

He looks deflated, which makes Zack’s heart hurt. It isn’t even that big of a deal, damn it, but he just hates to see Cloud sad.

“Maybe we could make some deliveries together?” he suggests. “I could give you some pointers.”

For a second he’s afraid Cloud will take offence, but then he gives him a soft smile and Zack knows he did the right thing.

The next day they set out together on Fenrir to make some deliveries around the Edge. He’s travelled with Cloud before, but it still gives him the thrill. He  _ loves _ riding on Fenrir. The wind on his face, the adrenaline from the speed and, most importantly, Cloud’s back pressed against him as he holds on tight to him.

It’s not long before they get to their first destination. Being Zack’s first time seeing Cloud on the job, he decides to let him do his thing and just observe. Fortunately, Cloud seems to remember their conversation at the office because he leaves First Tsurugi behind.

They go up to the house’s door and Zack gestures Cloud to ring the bell.

It goes… wrong, to say the least. Cloud is cold throughout the whole ordeal, short as it may be, and Zack didn’t know it was possible to make someone this uncomfortable in the span of a couple of minutes.

He can see where the complaints came from, now. It’s a combination of his body language and the way he speaks—although he and everyone who truly knows Cloud is used to this, he can understand why someone who doesn’t would interpret this as him being rude.

This continues throughout a couple of other deliveries before Zack decides to put a stop to Cloud’s monumental awkwardness.

“I’m gonna do the talking this time,” he explains, and he sees Cloud nod. “I’m obviously not asking you to behave like me but… maybe seeing someone else in action may help you figure out how  _ you _ should interact with clients.”

So he does his thing. He rings the bell and when the woman living there opens the door he puts on his nicest, most charming smile and asks for her signature on the delivery documents. He even manages to make her laugh, which seems to surprise Cloud. 

“How?” he asks, once the woman is back in her house. “How can you make someone like you in two interactions?”

Zack shrugs. “Dunno,” he says. “I’ve always had a knack for interacting with people, I guess?”

“People really fall for that stupid smile of yours, huh?” he says as he shrugs. Zack smirks.

“You sure did,” Zack says, which makes Cloud blush. “Anyway, what did you get out of this?” 

“People like overly friendly people delivering their packages?” he says, only half-joking. 

Zack scowls. “It’s not about being overly friendly, it’s just about being  _ nice. _ Of course, people don’t expect their delivery boy to explain to them his life story, but they also don’t want him to be  _ rude. _ ”

Cloud’s face falls at this. “It’s not like I’m deliberately trying to be rude,” he says. “...I’ve just never been good with people, as opposing to you.”

“And that’s fine, too,” he hurries to say. He  _ really _ hates upsetting Cloud, especially when he knows how hard this stuff is for him.  “I fell in love with the Cloud who has no social skills but still tries so hard to show he cares.”

Cloud blushes again. “I guess it won’t hurt to try and be nicer to people, even if they  _ are _ strangers.”

Zack smiles. “Hey, if it’s that hard to you, you can always try to just minimize the interactions you have with our clients. It’s not like you  _ want _ to talk to them, anyway. Plus, it’d make our delivery times even better. Or, you could just take care of the paperwork and leave the deliveries to me more often than not.”

It’s Cloud who smiles now. After that, they make it a habit to do deliveries together from time to time, if only to get out of the house and do something as a pair. 

Even though Cloud doesn’t get the hang of interacting with people, and probably never will, people stop complaining (which makes him relieved, as the complaints were stupid from the very first one), and Zack makes sure to treat Cloud to dinner more than once for it.

Their tiny delivery service is flourishing, and he couldn’t be happier about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, here's my Twitter: [@rikubraveheart](https://twitter.com/rikubraveheart)
> 
> Thanks to [Yetu](https://twitter.com/RedBearUniverse) for beta reading this!


End file.
